


Crime and Punishment

by writingfromdarkplaces



Series: Fleet Legal Advocate Corps Alternate Universe [5]
Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 08:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7707493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingfromdarkplaces/pseuds/writingfromdarkplaces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lee's duties for FLAC take him to <em>Galactica</em> where he finds himself in conflict with more than just his father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crime and Punishment

**Author's Note:**

> I was happily not working on more of this and toying with other AUs when this part just came and insisted on being done. Not sure why. The conversation between Lee and Bill was part of it, as was Lee and Helo and Helo and Kara.

* * *

“Is this absolutely necessary?”

Lee snorted. “Do you think I would be here if it wasn't?”

Bill nodded. He supposed that was true. His son wanted nothing to do with him, and he didn't believe that Lee would have set foot on _Galactica_ if he had a choice. He hadn't so much as taken a call from Bill in years, and if he asked Zak or even Carolanne to send a message to Lee, they both refused, saying Lee wouldn't listen to them, either.

“I don't see why the Fleet wants anyone involved,” Bill said, reaching for his glasses. “A few failed landings can't be high on their list of priorities.”

“As I understand it, sir, while Lieutenant Valerii has not yet damaged the ship or her Raptor, she has yet to make a proper landing anywhere. She was given to Galactica to learn hands-on approaches because her technique is sloppy and they thought practice would help her improve. It hasn't.”

“You're here to take her wings.”

Lee stiffened. “I am here to see if there is any other cause for her behavior. There have been allegations of an improper—”

“I resent the implication that I cannot police my own ship.”

“And I resent being sent here to do it for you,” Lee snapped back, shaking his head. He composed himself again. “Lieutenant Valerii is not the only reason I am here. I have two other investigations to run concurrent to hers. As I said—this _is_ necessary.”

“The other matters?”

“One involves Lieutenant Agathon,” Lee answered, and Bill grimaced. Helo was Boomer's ECO. “It's separate from the issue with Valerii. Frankly, I believe it's a waste of my time, but I was not given a choice in pursuing it.”

“And the last one?

“Classified,” Lee said, and Bill studied him, hard, trying to get a read on what his son refused to say. The boy was difficult to know at the best of times, but this hardened, bitter version of him that had taken over after the crash was almost impossible to understand. Bill didn't blame him for being angry. He'd had a hard time himself accepting that his time as a pilot was over, and a harder one accepting that the fleet had let him go. He'd fought his way back in and intended to stay. Lee—he'd fought to stay, but Carolanne always insisted that wasn't what Lee ever wanted. Her words, blaming Bill back when Lee's bird went down, still rang in his ears.

_“You did this. You killed our son.”_

_“Carolanne, accidents happen in the fleet. Lee is a good pilot. He understood the risks. He was willing to—”_

_“Willing? Since when was Lee ever anything but your soldier that followed orders? You broke him when he was too young to know different, to know better, and you planned out this life for him that he hates but won't leave because you damaged him with ideas of duty and honor. Like you even know the meaning of those words. Sacrifice? Oh, you know that one. You gave away your life, your family—but did you have to take my son, too? Is that what your career is worth to you? Your son's life?”_

Bill cleared his throat. “I don't like the idea of being in the dark about something on my ship. You know that's not how I work.”

“Do I?” Lee asked, voice and expression cold. He shook his head. “I've reported to you as ordered. Request permission to be dismissed. Sir.”

“Lee—”

“The sooner I conclude my investigations, the sooner I am off your ship. I think that is what we both want,” Lee said, tacking on an honorific more like an insult again. “Sir.”

It wasn't, but Bill didn't know that Lee would be willing to listen to him. He'd lost his son when that Viper went down, and he'd never gotten him back. He didn't know that he ever would.

“You're dismissed, Captain.”

* * *

“Question for you, Lieutenant.”

Helo almost dumped his drink on himself as he turned, almost ready to jump to attention. He hadn't gotten caught this off-guard since he was in flight school, and that was all Kara's fault, really. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but when she wanted something, she went all in, and she'd convinced him to do the same. He didn't know how much he'd drank that night, but he still considered it his record.

“Captain Adama. Sir. I... I didn't know you were on board.”

Adama seemed amused by that. “I would have thought the scuttlebutt would have made the rounds by now. It usually has.”

“Might be out of the loop,” Helo admitted. “It wasn't that long ago I was on leave, so...”

“I have to ask you about that leave. You were involved in an altercation with another officer. A Lieutenant Thrace, as I understand it.”

Helo almost hit the captain then and there. He couldn't believe this frakker. Acting like he didn't know Kara when Helo knew damn well that she'd hooked up with him for more than one night when he was investigating the death of her nuggets. To hear her tell it—not in words, but in everything she wasn't saying—she'd gone and fallen for him, too.

“It was a misunderstanding. Kara and I are friends. We spar, verbally and physically. That time was a bit of both, that's all. She took a swing at me, I swung back.”

Adama frowned. “And for that you're pursuing formal charges?”

“What? I never said that. I wouldn't,” Helo said, confused. “I didn't file anything. I don't know why Kara would.”

“Not even as a prank?”

Helo shook his head. “That's too far and she knows it. We both do. Look, we might both be frakkups, but we're not complete idiots. Both of us need the fleet. Kara might buck authority, but she's a lifer. She needs to fly. We wouldn't do anything that would ruin each other's careers. Sir.”

Adama digested that, looking far from pleased. “Fine. What do you know about Lieutenant Valerii's involvement with Chief Tyrol?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard the question,” Adama said, his voice turning dangerously like the commander's when he thought someone was out of line. “What do you know about her relationship with Chief Tyrol?”

“She doesn't have one,” Helo said, not liking this one bit.

“The hell she doesn't. She's a pilot. He's a crew chief. He takes care of her birds and everyone else's. Ther'es a relationship there, always has been, always will be, and don't think I don't know it just because I'm a lawyer.”

“I know who you used to be,” Helo agreed, just like he knew the lie was stupid. “I just never thought...”

“They'd send me instead of making my father put a stop to it?”

Helo winced, but it was the truth. “Uh... yeah. I just... Can it really be that important?”

Adama's eyes went over him, cold and apparently unfeeling. “Are you involved with her as well, Agathon?”

“What the frak kind of question is that?”

“One you already answered,” Adama said. “This interview is over.”

Helo watched him go, not sure what the hell had just happened but knowing that it was a damn good thing the captain _had_ gone, because he would have decked him again, and not for Kara this time. What the frak did she even see in him? The guy was a jerk of the first order.

* * *

“You can't do this.”

“I have the necessary authority from the fleet to resolve the situation,” Lee said, not backing down from his father's gaze. “Valerii's transfer is the easiest solution with the least ramifications.”

“You are _not_ interfering with my command,” his father said. “I don't care what authority they think you have or what you claim you're doing—”

“Valerii is involved with her crew chief against regs, and you frakking know it,” Lee said, losing control of his temper. “I don't know why you were letting it slide, and I don't care. It's done as of now. They want to be together, they can do it when it's not against regs.”

“You are not—”

“Valerii transfers or Tigh is out.” Lee saw the emotion spread over his father's face, inflating from anger to full blown rage. In another minute, his father would hit him, and he knew two things—he didn't care but he did deserve it. “Come on, Dad. You think I'd really tell you that I was here to investigate him for being unfit for duty? Of course not. You've got blinders on where he's concerned, and that will never change.”

“You can't do this. I won't _let_ you do this.”

“For frak's sake, don't you see this for what it is?” Lee demanded. “I'm giving you a choice. You can keep—”

“I'm keeping my crew. Get off my ship.”

Lee shook his head. “No. I can't, and I won't. I've given you the only concession I can—you can pick one to keep. I'll say I saw no sign of Tigh's drinking problem though I've known about it for years. You can keep him. Valerii transfers.”

“No. I won't let you take my crew and I won't—”

“You are such a frakking bastard. Do you understand what will happen if I don't give them one of them? They wanted three. Four, techincally, but that one's not your crew. Agathon, Valerii, and Tigh. Sacrifice Valerii, you save the others. You don't, you lose everything.”

“And this is what you do now,” his father said, disgusted. “Are you proud of yourself, Lee? Of what you've become?”

“Are you?” Lee countered. “Gods, you are so frakking stubborn you don't even _see_ it. You keep assuming it's all my doing. That I want to be here, that I'm giving you this choice because it's some kind of _game_ to me. Get over yourself. I don't want to be here. I had orders. I had a frakking—never mind. I'm done trying to work with you. You want to be stubborn, fine. I'll put in my report. Don't be surprised when Tigh's mustered out along with Valerii, Agathon, and Tyrol.”

“You didn't mention Tyrol before.”

“You really think he'll come out unscathed? Don't kid yourself. That's not how this works. I was willing to do damage control, and I told you how to minimize the casualties. You didn't want to hear it, so we're done,” Lee said, turning for the door. “You're losing them all. I hope your pride was worth it.”

His father rose. “Lee, get back here—Captain, I'm giving you an order—”

Lee pushed his way through the hatch. “I don't take orders from you, Commander.”

* * *

“How the frak can you be with him?” Helo demanded into the phone. He had just heard from Sharon—she had orders to leave the _Galactica_ in a few hours, to report directly to some planetside base no one had ever heard from. She was as good as out of the service, and it was Adama's doing. “Do you even know what he's like?”

“He has professional asshole down to an art form,” Kara agreed. “It's a good act. He almost fooled me with it.”

“He can't really be that good, can he? I don't care how good he is at frakking, it can't make up for the rest of what he is,” Helo said, wishing he knew that she was thinking. She wasn't, that much was clear, but it was more than that. “He's a jerk. It's not an act. He got Sharon transferred. She's out. She'll be lucky if she flies again. I don't get it. She blows a landing or two and suddenly her and the chief are FLAC's business and your boyfriend gets rid of her and—”

“Frak. Lee said there would be consequences, but I didn't think it would happen like this.”

“Consequences? Of him being a first rate ass—”

“They sent him to _Galactica_ as punishment.”

Helo snorted. “Oh, there was plenty of punishment. First he pretends I filled charges against you for that fight we had, then he pokes at Sharon's relationship with the chief, makes it out that I have feelings for her, too, and then walks off. Next thing I know, she's being transferred, and I heard she wasn't the only one getting one.”

“You pressed charges against me?”

“No. I thought maybe you did it against me as a prank—”

“Frak, no. They're just... screwing with us. Twisting what I used as an excuse to see him into something to force us apart,” Kara said, and Helo thought he heard her pacing on the other end of the line. “What else happened?”

“I'm not sure. Rumor has it he had a big blow out with his father—again—but I'm not sure how true that is. I'd like to think the old man went to the mat for Sharon, but—”

“Oh, gods,” Kara muttered. “This is so frakked up.”

“Just dump him. He's not worth it.”

“No, Helo, you don't get it,” Kara said. “Lee's commanding officer came to see him while I was here. Made a speech about how Lee was the noticeable face of the corps, about how people saw him and respected him for being harsh but fair—”

“That's a load of crock.”

“—and strongly advised that he stop seeing a woman that was not only a disciplinary problem but very likely on her way out of the fleet. He has a reputation to uphold, and dating a screw up one step from the door is not a part of that.”

Helo punched the wall next to him. “You have got to be kidding me. You're not in that much trouble, and if he cares so much about his reputation as to—”

“He didn't do it, Karl,” Kara said. “That's the frakking point. He told his CO he'd consider what he'd said—”

“Frakking bastard.”

“—and then asked me if I was prepared for the consequences if he didn't go along with his orders because they were going to be ugly,” Kara finished. She paused to let that sink in. “He knew that if he tried to keep seeing me, if he talked to me at all, there would be fallout for it.”

“Sounds like an excuse.” 

“It isn't,” Kara said, sounding frakking miserable on her end. “You know me. I said frak 'em, and he said I'd regret it. I was the one that pushed him to go against them. Be as mad as you like at me. He warned me, and I said to hell with it. I didn't care who else it hurt. I want him, and he needs me. He's got no one. His father turned against him when he went to FLAC, they threatened his family, and he's been toeing the line so long he's dead inside. Except for me. I brought him back to life. They hate me for it.”

Helo leaned his head against the wall. “You're sure that's why this is happening?”

“I went on the record as saying that the deaths weren't pilot error even after he warned me not to. They know how I feel about it, and they see that as a threat. They don't want Lee going anywhere near the truth.”

“You're kidding. They—whoever they are—would not go to all that trouble over who he fraks.”

“Thanks for putting my relationship into such crude terms, but yeah, they would.” Kara shifted on the other end of the line, messing with something Helo couldn't see. “I'm the only one he's gone back to, and don't think for a minute they didn't notice. They did. His CO ordered him to stop. They sent him off to _Galactica,_ threatened both you and me with charges, made him frak over his father's command and all because they won't let him prove what we all know—he didn't cause that crash. It was the guidance system, and it's going to get all our pilots killed if it's not stopped, but they must not be willing to pay to fix it properly, because instead they squash down the rumors and take everything from him. Again.”

“Gods, Kara. You've got it bad.”

She groaned. “Don't remind me. Just... Don't blame it all on Lee. This isn't his fault.”

“I still hate him.”

“You and everyone else but me, and that's what they want,” she said sadly. “I've got to go, Helo. I think I already said too much over this line. Normally, I have to be drunk, but...”

But now she was worried about her Lee and it showed. She'd slipped further than Helo had ever known her to fall, especially sober.

“Be careful, Starbuck.”

“Back at you, Helo.”

* * *

“A word before you go, Captain.”

“I'm not sure we have anything to say to each other,” Lee began, but Bill held up a hand. He needed Lee to hear him, now, before everything was lost. As soon as Lee got off the ship, all bets were off, and Bill refused to accept that. He couldn't let his son go like this, couldn't let his ship get torn apart and his crew scattered.

“We do.”

“When I am due to leave the ship in less than ten minutes? You're cutting it close, and even if you weren't, it would be hard to—”

“You believe in compromise.”

Lee came down the ramp. “And you don't. I also don't think you want to continue this here.”

Bill nodded. He didn't. To admit that he was willing to take his son's so-called deal to keep Tigh, Agathon, and Tyrol was hard enough without doing it publicly. “Your terms are still crap, and I don't respect you for them.”

“It's a frakking hard six, Dad. Roll it or shut up,” Lee said, not backing down an inch. “I don't like them any more than you do, but there's nothing I can do.”

“The frak there isn't.”

“And again you don't listen.” Lee said, shaking his head as he started back up the ramp. “I don't know why you bothered coming down here, but since you're still not willing to—”

“One for four. I can't argue with the odds.”

Lee stopped, looking back at him. “You're sure?”

“If that's still an option. You always were a bit too eager to get your work finished.”

“Nothing wrong with a good work ethic. Not that you would allow anything less.”

Bill grunted, and Lee turned, heading back up to the chair he was supposed to use. Picking up his bag, he started rifling through it, pulling out a stack of papers. He set the bag down on the chair, and the ship exploded.


End file.
